In 1888 another Southerner, Edward Johnston of Alabama, entered the aviation field with his ideas for a workable helicopter. His design was patented in June of that year and resembled for all the world the paper aircraft models which school boys make to plague their teachers.

Johnston's flying machine had six propellers, four for vertical flying and two for giving it directional flight. An interesting detail about these propellers was the fact they had their own individual motors. In addition to being capable of flying in up and down and forward directions, the inventor claimed, his machine could also hover, like a humming-bird, over one area.